Police say Hempfield man was led into deadly ambush over girlfriend
A Hempfield Township man was led to a deadly ambush early Tuesday in Manor by a gunman who was angered at the victim's romantic interest in his girlfriend, court papers disclosed Thursday.
On Wednesday, Westmoreland County detectives arrested Jason P. Maple, 24, of 16 Marilou Drive, Penn Township, who is accused of shooting and killing William Teck, 25, a Hempfield Township construction worker, at about 3:35 a.m. along Norfolk Southern railroad tracks.
Yesterday, police arrested three of Maple's four alleged co-conspirators in Teck's death: Nathan T. Shank, 20, of 30 Kuketz St., Adamsburg; Ryan Bronowski, 22, of 613 Sandy Hill Road, Trafford; and Maple's girlfriend, Jennifer Vinsek, 24, of 12-B Division St., Greensburg. All three are charged with criminal homicide and conspiracy and are being held in the county prison without bond.
Arrest warrants also are issued for one other person who investigators allege assisted Maple in carrying out the murder plan: Shank's brother, Dwayne, also of Adamsburg, who is believed to be in his 20s.
The arrest affidavit detective Terry Kuhns filed after Shank's arrest disclosed that Teck recently resided in the Division Street apartment that Vinsek shared with her roommate, Amy Kujawa. Police said that witnesses reported Teck and Vinsek had become romantically involved, at the same time she also had dated Maple.
On May 27, Kuhns reported, Maple believed that Teck and his friend, Patrick Altman, “had damaged some furniture” in the apartment. Two days later, Maple told detectives that he believed Teck and Altman broke into the apartment and took jewelry and an undisclosed amount of money.
Maple also told investigators that he had “received information that William Teck stated he was going to sexually assault Jennifer Vinsek.”
On May 29, after making a report about the damaged apartment furniture, an entertainment center and a damaged mirror, to Greensburg police, Maple said Vinsek and he decided to confront Teck and Altman at Clearwaterz, a lounge along Route 30, east of Greensburg.
Maple told police he verbally confronted the pair, but left the bar.
“Mr. Maple stated that at this point, he decided to retaliate against William Teck. It was decided between Mr. Maple and Jennifer Vinsek that they would contact other individuals to assist them in killing William Teck,” the arrest affidavit said.
The arrest affidavit disclosed that Kujawa, who is not charged, provided information to Maple and Vinsek via telephone that Teck and Altman had left Clearwaterz to travel to the Manor Diner. Maple then retrieved a 12-gauge shotgun he owned and telephoned his friends -- the Shanks and Bronowski -- to assist Vinsek and him with killing Teck, according to the affidavit.
The three met at a Manor convenience store to “conduct surveillance” on Teck and it was also determined that after the shooting Bronowski would drive Maple and Nathan Shank “from the scene of the homicide,” court papers said.
Court papers said Maple told detectives that Vinsek and Dwayne Shank would act as “lookouts” during the crime.
Kuhns wrote that Altman told investigators that he and Teck left the diner at about 3:30 a.m. to walk to Greensburg after receiving a telephone call there from Kujawa requesting the pair meet with her and some of her girlfriends.
Maple, who was discharged last year from the U.S. Marine Corps, told detectives that when he observed Teck and Altman leave the diner and walk toward the railroad tracks “Maple and Nate (Shank) assumed a flanking position in between the Manor Fire Hall and a white-framed structure.”
As Altman and Teck walked along the railroad bed, Maple told police that he walked from his hiding spot toward the pair and fired one shot, hitting Teck, who fell to the ground. Maple told police he then fired a second blast at Teck, but wasn't sure whether that shot hit him.
The coroner's office reported that Teck died of a shotgun blast to his upper torso. Altman, who was not injured, ran from the shooting scene and telephoned police, court records said.
Maple and Shank then ran to Route 993, where they met Bronowski, who was driving Maple's white Toyota, and drove to the Shanks' Adamsburg residence. They later went to Vinsek's father's residence in Youngwood.
Chief county Detective Michael Brajdich declined to comment on the investigation yesterday because it is ongoing.
District Attorney John Peck said that it was too early in the investigation to determine whether he would pursue the death penalty.
Nathan Shank pleaded guilty in 2004 to a Penn Township burglary and served one year on electric home monitoring, according to court records. Records also show that he never paid $3,083 in fines and costs after the conviction or $4,000 in restitution to the victim.
Bronowski has no previous criminal record.
Preliminary hearings will be held before Harrison City District Judge Helen J. Kistler.
